A Lady Lake man carrying three cell phones was nabbed with a thick wad of bills and a large quantity of drugs.
Patrick Vernon Dixon, 37, had been driving a gray Ford passenger car at about 2 a.m. Sunday on Pamela Street in Leesburg when a deputy noticed he wasn’t wearing a seat belt and had an inoperable taglight, according to an arrest report from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
During a traffic stop, the deputy noticed the “strong odor of marijuana” coming from the vehicle, which Dixon said belonged to his sister. A check revealed Dixon’s license had been revoked since 2009 and he has 16 convictions for driving while license suspended.
Dixon was in possession of $2,474 in cash and said, “his wife works and she gave him the cash to pay their bills,” the deputy wrote in the arrest report. He also had three cell phones in his pockets.
A digital scale was also found in the vehicle along with a “substantial amount” of cocaine as well as marijuana. There was also a box of clear plastic bags used in the sale of narcotics, the report said.
Dixon was arrested on multiple drug charges and a charge of driving while license suspended. He was booked at the Lake County Jail and released after posting $31,000 bond.
Dixon has a long history of arrests, including an arrest in 2018 just outside The Villages. Sumter County sheriff’s deputies found Dixon had more than $1,000 in cash, 18 grams of cocaine and 100 Alprazolam 2mg pills.
